Albuca concordiana [RARE] (similar to Albuca spiralis) / 5 seeds per pack

Albuca concordiana is a small perennial plant native to an area stretched between southern Namibia and the northwestern Cape to the Karoo and the southeastern Cape in South Africa. It grows on rocky flats in xerophyllous scrubs in hot arid climates that receives winter rainfall.

It’s very small and reaches the maximum height of 20cm. it tends to offset to form clumps. Its most attractive feature is its coiled, corkscrew-shaped leaves, that are bluish-grey, flat, glabrous, up to 7 cm long and 4 mm wide and are furrowed by fine, longitudinal channels.

Due to the coiled leaves that look like curly hair, Albuca concordiana is very popular among succulent lovers. Its bulb is tiny but perfect globous with tunics that turn papery near the neck. When the plant goes dormant in the summer, it blooms, when it produces clusters of yellow flowers with a very sweet fragrance of vanilla and butter and six petals with a broad green midrib coming from the side of the flower stalk. When flowers start appearing, normally the tips of the curly leaves of Albuca concordiana turn brown.

Many people don’t like this. If you too don’t like it, you should cut the flower stalks as soon as they appear to prevent flowering and thereby leaves turning brown. But the leaves start drying up and shedding also during the plant’s dormancy period i.e. summer. In that case, you should just understand that the dormancy has started and should not worry. As long as the plant is healthy, leaves will grow back in winter.

Albuca concordiana is very easy to grow. You should place it in a bright spot, exposed to direct sun all year round except during the hottest hours in summer. It’s very resistant to cold and hence can be placed outside. It can survive temperatures down to -7-degree C. in the winter, you can leave it outside, but in areas colder than -7-degree C, you should protect it in the greenhouse.

You should water sparingly in the growth season and discontinue watering in summer to avoid rot and in winter, as cold, dry conditions will enhance the coiling of the leaves. You should also reduce the frequency of irrigation during the blooming period, to avoid root rot. However, in extremely dry conditions, the plant will go dormant.

A mix for succulent with some gravel into a standard growing medium is fine for Albuca concordiana. it doesn’t need frequent fertilization. Just a diluted fertilizer with watering once a year is sufficient.

You can propagate this plant by dividing bulbs or sowing seeds. seeds germinate easily if you sow them in the Fall or winter in a mix of perlite and moist peat, and place the pot in a bright spot, but not exposed to direct sunlight.

Albuca concordiana is virtually disease- and pest-free.

The epithet concordiana refers to Concordia, a place in South Africa where the species was first found.